| 21. |
- Lassance, Jean-Marc, et al.
(författare)
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Allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene causes divergence in moth sex pheromones
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 466:7305, s. 486-489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pheromone-based behaviours are crucial in animals from insects to mammals, and reproductive isolation is often based on pheromone differences. However, the genetic mechanisms by which pheromone signals change during the evolution of new species are largely unknown. In the sexual communication system of moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera), females emit a species-specific pheromone blend that attracts males over long distances. The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, consists of two sex pheromone races, Z and E, that use different ratios of the cis and trans isomers of acetate pheromone components. This subtle difference leads to strong reproductive isolation in the field between the two races, which could represent a first step in speciation. Female sex pheromone production and male behavioural response are under the control of different major genes, but the identity of these genes is unknown. Here we show that allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene essential for pheromone biosynthesis accounts for the phenotypic variation in female pheromone production, leading to race-specific signals. Both the cis and trans isomers of the pheromone precursors are produced by both races, but the precursors are differentially reduced to yield opposite ratios in the final pheromone blend as a result of the substrate specificity of the enzymes encoded by the Z and E alleles. This is the first functional characterization of a gene contributing to intraspecific behavioural reproductive isolation in moths, highlighting the importance of evolutionary diversification in a lepidopteran-specific family of reductases. Accumulation of substitutions in the coding region of a single biosynthetic enzyme can produce pheromone differences resulting in reproductive isolation, with speciation as a potential end result.
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| 22. |
- Ljung, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Hormonal control of the shoot stem-cell niche
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 465, s. 1089-U154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The classic phytohormones cytokinin and auxin play essential roles in the maintenance of stem-cell systems embedded in shoot and root meristems, and exhibit complex functional interactions(1-4). Here we show that the activity of both hormones directly converges on the promoters of two A-type ARABIDOPSIS RESPONSE REGULATOR (ARR) genes, ARR7 and ARR15, which are negative regulators of cytokinin signalling(5) and have important meristematic functions(3). Whereas ARR7 and ARR15 expression in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) is induced by cytokinin, auxin has a negative effect, which is, at least in part, mediated by the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR5/MONOPTEROS (MP) transcription factor(6). Our results provide a mechanistic framework for hormonal control of the apical stem-cell niche and demonstrate how root and shoot stem-cell systems differ in their response to phytohormones.
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| 23. |
- Ma, Li-Jun, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative genomics reveals mobile pathogenicity chromosomes in Fusarium.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 464:7287, s. 367-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fusarium species are among the most important phytopathogenic and toxigenic fungi. To understand the molecular underpinnings of pathogenicity in the genus Fusarium, we compared the genomes of three phenotypically diverse species: Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Our analysis revealed lineage-specific (LS) genomic regions in F. oxysporum that include four entire chromosomes and account for more than one-quarter of the genome. LS regions are rich in transposons and genes with distinct evolutionary profiles but related to pathogenicity, indicative of horizontal acquisition. Experimentally, we demonstrate the transfer of two LS chromosomes between strains of F. oxysporum, converting a non-pathogenic strain into a pathogen. Transfer of LS chromosomes between otherwise genetically isolated strains explains the polyphyletic origin of host specificity and the emergence of new pathogenic lineages in F. oxysporum. These findings put the evolution of fungal pathogenicity into a new perspective.
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| 24. |
- Maeda, K., et al.
(författare)
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An asymmetric explosion as the origin of spectral evolution diversity in type Ia supernovae
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 466:7302, s. 82-85
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Type Ia supernovae form an observationally uniform class of stellar explosions, in that more luminous objects have smaller decline-rates. This one-parameter behaviour allows type Ia supernovae to be calibrated as cosmological `standard candles', and led to the discovery of an accelerating Universe. Recent investigations, however, have revealed that the true nature of type Ia supernovae is more complicated. Theoretically, it has been suggested that the initial thermonuclear sparks are ignited at an offset from the centre of the white-dwarf progenitor, possibly as a result of convection before the explosion. Observationally, the diversity seen in the spectral evolution of type Ia supernovae beyond the luminosity-decline-rate relation is an unresolved issue. Here we report that the spectral diversity is a consequence of random directions from which an asymmetric explosion is viewed. Our findings suggest that the spectral evolution diversity is no longer a concern when using type Ia supernovae as cosmological standard candles. Furthermore, this indicates that ignition at an offset from the centre is a generic feature of type Ia supernovae.
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| 25. |
- Marteyn, Benoit, et al.
(författare)
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Modulation of Shigella virulence in response to available oxygen in vivo
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 465:7296, s. 355-358
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacteria coordinate expression of virulence determinants in response to localized microenvironments in their hosts. Here we show that Shigella flexneri, which causes dysentery, encounters varying oxygen concentrations in the gastrointestinal tract, which govern activity of its type three secretion system (T3SS). The T3SS is essential for cell invasion and virulence(1). In anaerobic environments (for example, the gastrointestinal tract lumen), Shigella is primed for invasion and expresses extended T3SS needles while reducing Ipa (invasion plasmid antigen) effector secretion. This is mediated by FNR (fumarate and nitrate reduction), a regulator of anaerobic metabolism that represses transcription of spa32 and spa33, virulence genes that regulate secretion through the T3SS. We demonstrate there is a zone of relative oxygenation adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract mucosa, caused by diffusion from the capillary network at the tips of villi. This would reverse the anaerobic block of Ipa secretion, allowing T3SS activation at its precise site of action, enhancing invasion and virulence.
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| 26. |
- Musunuru, Kiran, et al.
(författare)
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From noncoding variant to phenotype via SORT1 at the 1p13 cholesterol locus
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 466:7307, s. 2-714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified a locus on chromosome 1p13 strongly associated with both plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and myocardial infarction (MI) in humans. Here we show through a series of studies in human cohorts and human-derived hepatocytes that a common noncoding polymorphism at the 1p13 locus, rs12740374, creates a C/EBP (CCAAT/enhancer binding protein) transcription factor binding site and alters the hepatic expression of the SORT1 gene. With small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown and viral overexpression in mouse liver, we demonstrate that Sort1 alters plasma LDL-C and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particle levels by modulating hepatic VLDL secretion. Thus, we provide functional evidence for a novel regulatory pathway for lipoprotein metabolism and suggest that modulation of this pathway may alter risk for MI in humans. We also demonstrate that common noncoding DNA variants identified by GWASs can directly contribute to clinical phenotypes.
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| 27. |
- Niedzwiedzki, Grzegorz, et al.
(författare)
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Tetrapod trackways from the early Middle Devonian period of Poland
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 463:7277, s. 43-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fossil record of the earliest tetrapods (vertebrates with limbs rather than paired fins) consists of body fossils and trackways. The earliest body fossils of tetrapods date to the Late Devonian period (late Frasnian stage) and are preceded by transitional elpistostegids such as Panderichthys and Tiktaalik that still have paired fins. Claims of tetrapod trackways predating these body fossils have remained controversial with regard to both age and the identity of the track makers. Here we present well-preserved and securely dated tetrapod tracks from Polish marine tidal flat sediments of early Middle Devonian (Eifelian stage) age that are approximately 18 million years older than the earliest tetrapod body fossils and 10 million years earlier than the oldest elpistostegids. They force a radical reassessment of the timing, ecology and environmental setting of the fish-tetrapod transition, as well as the completeness of the body fossil record.
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| 28. |
- Ohlsson, R
(författare)
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Gene expression: The coherent Mediator
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 467:7314, s. 406-407
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Pinto, Dalila, et al.
(författare)
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Functional impact of global rare copy number variation in autism spectrum disorders.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 466:7304, s. 368-372
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of conditions characterized by impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication, and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviours. Individuals with an ASD vary greatly in cognitive development, which can range from above average to intellectual disability. Although ASDs are known to be highly heritable ( approximately 90%), the underlying genetic determinants are still largely unknown. Here we analysed the genome-wide characteristics of rare (<1% frequency) copy number variation in ASD using dense genotyping arrays. When comparing 996 ASD individuals of European ancestry to 1,287 matched controls, cases were found to carry a higher global burden of rare, genic copy number variants (CNVs) (1.19 fold, P = 0.012), especially so for loci previously implicated in either ASD and/or intellectual disability (1.69 fold, P = 3.4 x 10(-4)). Among the CNVs there were numerous de novo and inherited events, sometimes in combination in a given family, implicating many novel ASD genes such as SHANK2, SYNGAP1, DLGAP2 and the X-linked DDX53-PTCHD1 locus. We also discovered an enrichment of CNVs disrupting functional gene sets involved in cellular proliferation, projection and motility, and GTPase/Ras signalling. Our results reveal many new genetic and functional targets in ASD that may lead to final connected pathways.
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